ADDRESS 


IlKFOBK   TIIK 


AMERICAN  INSTITUTE, 


AT   THE    CLOSE   OF    ITS 


FOURTEENTH   ANNUAL   FAIR, 


On  lUe  aoth  o£  October,  1841, 


GEN.    JAMES    TALLMADGE 


PRESIDF.NT   OF   THE   INSTITUTE. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OP  THE  MANAGERS. 


NEW-YORK: 

HOPKINS   AND   JENNINGS,   TR  INTERS, 
Nu.  Ill  Fultun-strcot. 

1841. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

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ADDRESS 


BKFORC   THE 


AMERICAN    INSTITUTE, 


AT  THE   CLOSE   OF  ITS 


FOURTEENTH  ANNUAL  FAIR, 


On  tbe  ^th  of  October,  1841, 


GEN.   JAMES    TALLMADGE, 


PEESnOENT  OF  THE   INSTITUTE. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  MANAGERS. 


^^^:^S^^ 


NEW-YORK: 

HOPKINS  AND  JENNINGS,  PRINTERS, 
Nu.  Ill  FuttOD-street. 

1841. 


New-York,  Nov.  Slat,  1841. 
Gex.  Jambs  Tallmadoe, 
Dear  Sir : 

The  undersigned  having  listened  to  your  Address  at  the  close  of  the  14th  Annual 
Fair  of  the  American  Institute,  and  deeming  the  views  taken  by  you,  together  with  the  facts 
set  forth  on  that  occasion,  of  too  much  importance  to  the  great  interests  of  our  country,  to 
rest  upon  the  summary,  and  for  the  most  part,  incorrect  reports  of  the  same,  which  appeared 
in  the  public  newspapers,  avail  themselves  of  this  first  opportunity  since  your  return  to  the 
city,  of  soliciting  a  copy  of  that  address  from  you,  for  publication. 

Respectfully  your  obedient  servants, 
Adoniram   Chandler, 
T.  B.  Wakkman, 
RosEWELL  Graves, 
D.  Henderson, 
Charles  F.  Howell, 
Geo.  C.  De  Kay, 
L.  D.  Chapin, 
John  Campbell, 

W.   P.   DiSSOSWAY, 

John  Travers, 
B.  Gardiner, 
Geo.  Bacon, 
Edward  Clarke, 
Alfred  Stillman. 


New-York,  Nov.  26th,  1841. 
Gentlemen : 

The  reporU  which  T  have  seen  of  the  Address  at  the  close  of  the  Fair,  are  certainly 
imperfect  and  different  from  what  I  intended,  and  supposed  I  had  delivered.  My  object  was 
to  show  the  necessity  for  Equality  and  Reciprocity  in  trade,  and  that  the  commercial  regula- 
tions of  other  governmonu,  not  having  been  countervailed  by  ours,  had  occasioned  the  de- 
pression of  the  labouring  classes,  and  the  derangement  of  our  currency,  financial  concerns, 
and  navigation. 

The  address  was  spoken  extempore,  with  a  general  reference  to  the  documents  and  facts 
before  mo. 
A  summary  of  the  address  is  now  sent,  and  submitted  to  your  discretion. 

Very  respectfully. 

Yours,  &c. 

JAMES  TALLMADGB. 
To  Adoniram  Chandler,  Esq. ) 
and  others  —  Committee,  &c.     ) 


ADDRESS. 


Fellow-Citizens  : 

We  rejoice  to  meet  you  on  this  14th  Anniversary  of  the  American  In- 
stitute. It  has  been  our  lot  very  often  to  meet  you  on  these  occasions ; 
and  always,  on  our  part,  with  increasing  satisfaction.  It  is  with  exulting 
pride  we  find  we  have  your  marked  approbation  of  our  whole  course. 

The  American  Institute  was  incorporated  many  years  since,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  advancing  the  Agriculture,  Commerce,  and  Manufactures  of 
our  country.  It  avows  itself  alike  the  champion  of  each,  but  in  particular 
and  especially  of  commerce.  It  is  the  interest  of  the  country  to  do  justice 
to  her  commerce.  Secure  to  that  an  open  trade  and  imrestricted  enter- 
prise, it  will  in  return  not  only  build  up  a  commercial  marine,  and  estab- 
lish our  naval  strength,  but  will  provide  a  market  for  agriculture  and  man- 
ufactures, which  will  be  sufficient,  and  all  they  ask,  for  their  protection 
and  indemnity. 

We  have  a  country  unsurpassed  in  its  advantages  by  any  other  portion 
of  the  globe  ;  and  blessed  with  a  government,  soil,  and  climate,  unequalled 
by  that  of  any  other.  Look  at  the  mighty  progress  we  are  making  in  in- 
ternal improvements.  Already  this  country,  which  led  the  way  in  canals, 
has  3,700  miles  of  canal  navigation,  pouring  in  its  abundance ;  and  4,500 
miles  of  railroad.  Thus  we  have  about  8,000  miles  of  these  useful  public 
works,  equal  in  value  to  about  ^160,000,000,  expended  for  the  benefit  and 
happiness  of  the  whole  people.  No  country  on  earth,  ancient  or  modem, 
can  produce  any  thing  in  physical  achievements  at  all  comparable  to  this. 
How  different,  and  how  much  better  is  this,  than  those  monarchical  and 
despotic  governments  which  waste  their  revenues,  and  can  boast  only  of 
their  columns  to  heroes,  pyramids  to  kings,  and  marble  palaces,  standing 
as  monuments  of  the  oppression  and  subjection  of  the  people  from  whom 
such  abundance  has  been  wrung. 

We  have  had,  during  the  progress  of  the  present  Fair,  addresses  deliv- 
ered on  various  subjects  of  public  interest,  and  especially  on  agriculture 
and  the  culture  of  silk.  You  have,  on  our  previous  anniversaries  like  this, 
been  addressed  by  the  wisdom  and  the  learning  of  the  land :  by  a  Baldwin, 
a  Surges,  an  Everett,  a  Davis,  a  Kennedy,  a  Southard,  a  Webster,  and 
many  others :  in  fact,  orators  have  preceded  us,  and  facts  and  circum- 


f 


stances  have  been  adduced  by  them,  espousing  and  illustrating  the  princi- 
ples of  encouragement  and  protection  to  the  great  interests  of  agriculture, 
commerce,  and  manufactures.  They  have  so  brought  their  eloquence  and 
reason  to  bear,  that  I  venture  to  say,  there  is  not  a  book  extant,  combining 
at  one  centre,  and  containing  so  much  intelligence  in  the  same  space,  on 
these  subjects,  as  the  desk  of  the  American  Institute. 

My  purpose  on  the  present  occasion,  is  to  call  your  attention  especially 
to  Commerce  and  its  attendant  consequences.  It  is  perhaps  sufficient  for 
the  purposes  of  the  country,  and  in  gradual  advancement ;  but  it  is  not  what 
it  ought  to  be.  The  extent  of  our  country,  its  benign  and  varied  climate, 
with  its  exuberant  and  virgin  soil,  has  fitted  it  for  every  production  and 
every  pursuit  The  genius  and  irrepressible  spirit  of  our  people  have  a 
course  that  is  onward.  They  aspire  to  active  pursuits  and  deeds  of  enter- 
prise as  the  price  of  success,  and  their  claim  to  prosperity. 

Internal  commerce  is  not  what  of  right  it  ought  to  be.  Our  increasing 
population,  and  the  superabundant  productions  of  our  land,  push  it  for- 
ward to  a  state  of  partial  prosperity.  But  it  bears  no  just  proportion  to  the 
advance  of  internal  improvements,  and  what  the  attendant  circumstances 
of  the  coimtry  invited  it  to  become.  Providence  has  showered  down 
blessings  upon  us.  We  have  been  spared  from  the  great  scourges  of 
mankind  ;  either  war,  pestilence,  or  famine.  Yet  our  coimtry  is  despond- 
ing and  suffering  under  embarrassments. 

Agriculture  is  abundant,  but  has  no  market !  Manufactures  withering, 
and  at  a  stand.  Labour  depressed.  This  strong  arm  of  supply  and  de- 
fence is  not  employed  and  protected  as  it  should  be.  The  Revenue  is  di- 
minishing, the  Treasury  exhausted.  The  Currency  deranged,  and  credit 
destroyed.    Foreign  commerce  is  growing  on  us  at  an,  alarming  extent. 

Is  it  not  time  that  we  should  arouse  the  attention  of  the  Government  to 
these  facts,  and  warn  it  of  our  condition  1 

The  causes  leading  to  such  disastrous  results,  are  worthy  mature  con- 
sideration. We  cut  the  following  article  from  a  city  paper,  we  believe 
from  the  Journal  of  Commerce  of  September : 

"  The  Revenue  law  will  go  into  operation  on  the  1st  proximo.  It  may 
produce  changes  in  the  state  of  our  trade,  of  which  the  extent  cannot  yet 
be  foreseen.  At  present,  our  trade  with  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and  with 
France  particularly,  is  in  a  condition  which,  it  would  seem,  unwise  legis- 
lation can  alone  have  brought  about  It  is  almost  altogether  in  the  hands 
of  foreigners.  Of  the  packet-ships  recently  arrived  from  France,  with  very 
valuable  cargoes,  four-Jifths  of  these,  certainly,  and  perhaps  nine-tenths, 
were  for  foreign  account  or  consigned  to  foreign  houses  here.  With  the 
intelligence,  industry,  and  enterprise  of  the  American  merchant  it  is  quite 
impossible  that  any  equal  competition  should  have  shut  him  out  so  com. 
pletely  from  the  French  trade  ;  and  therefore  it  is,  we  say,  that  unwise  le- 
gislation must  be  at  the  bottom  of  it. 

"  In  anticipation  of  the  new  duties  on  silks  and  other  merchandise,  the 
produce  of  France,  now  free,  very  large  assortments  have  arrived  and  are 


5/ 

arriving.  So  that  the  calculation  of  revenue  from  this  source  will,  for  the 
first  portion  of  the  current  fiscal  year,  be  disappointed,  the  country  being 
stocked  with  free  goods." 

Yes,  fellow-citizens,  "  unwise  legislation  "  has  crippled  the  energies  and 
the  resources  of  the  country.  "  Our  trade  is  in  a  condition  which  unwise 
legislation  can  alone  have  brought  about  Nine-tenths  of  the  importations 
from  France  are  on  foreign  account  The  same  may  be  said  aa  to  importa- 
tions from  England,  and  from  Germany.  We  are  advocates  for  free  trade. 
We  have  opened  our  ports  to  the  productions  of  foreign  countries.  We 
receive  foreigners  with  open  arms,  and  extend  to  them  all  our  civil  rights 
and  privileges,  but  are  not  willing  to  become  their  inferiors  in  this  land  of 
our  birth.  This  monopoly  by  them  of  our  foreign  trade,  and  of  importa- 
tions, must  have  a  cause.  If  it  does  not  spring  from,  it  is  sanctioned  and 
tolerated  by,  our  own  "  unwise  legislation."  It  is  high  time  our  govern- 
ment placed  us  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  other  nations.  Foreign  goods 
are  imported  on  foreign  account,  accompanied  by  a  foreign  agent,  or  con- 
signed to  one  previously  stationed  here,  to  hold  possession  of  the  goods  — 
to  sell  them  —  draw  the  specie,  and  remit  the  proceeds  by  the  return  packet 
Our  regular  merchants  pay  taxes  and  rents,  and  may  look  from  their  stores 
to  witness  what  they  severely  feel,  the  facilities  afforded  to  this  process 
of  foreign  trade.  The  American  importing  houses  have  been  superseded, 
and  but  few  of  them  remain.  This  change  in  the  course  of  the  importing 
trade,  is  declared  by  foreigners  to  be  necessary,  as  a  consequence  of  our 
bad  currency  and  loss  of  credit  The  diminution  of  our  imports  at  the  pre- 
sent time,  compared  with  our  exports,  comes  not  from  any  salutary  meas. 
ures,  adopted  by  our  government,  but  arises  from  our  former  great  indebt- 
edness, and  the  present  doubtful  safety  for  further  liabilities.  The  most 
visionary  nullifier,  could  not  ask  a  better  illustration  of  the  effects  of  our 
late  public  measures,  than  these  facts  present. 

If  our  government  did  not  before  know,  it  was  informed  by  despatches 
from  the  American  Minister,  General  Cass,  Oct,  28, 1839  — 

"  That  in  1836,  France  imported  into  the  United  States,  value,  238  mil- 
lions of  francs.  She  received  as  imports  from  the  United  States,  value, 
110  millions  of  francs."    The  balance  paid  in  specie. 

Again: 

"All  the  expoitations  from  France  to  the  United  States,  are  manufac- 
tured articles ;  none  of  them  giving  employment  to  American  manufac- 
turers. The  articles  imported  into  France  from  the  United  States,  are  in 
their  natural  state,"  —  (raw  materials.) 

Ag  uIb: 

"  Two-thirds  of  all  the  importations  introduced  from  France  into  the 
United  States,  are  free  of  duty.  Not  one  article  imported  into  PVance  from 
the  United  States  is  exempted  from  duty.  The  great  American  staple, 
cotton,  imported  into  JVance,  pays  a  duty  of  between  four  and  five  per  cent 
upon  its  value  more  than  Egyptian  cotton,  thus  far  operating  as  a  bounty 
in  favour  of  the  latter.    Upon  sUks  imported  into  the  United  States  from 


countries  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  a  duty  of  ten  per  cent,  is  levied, 
while  French  silks  are  free  of  duty :  a  regulation  which  has  driven  the 
India  and  China  silks  from  the  American  markets,  and  which  operates  as  a 
bounty  upon  the  introduction  of  French  (and  English)  silks ;  a  product 
constituting  almost  one  half  in  value  of  the  amount  of  the  importations  of 
the  United  States  from  France." 

This  despatch  added  —  "  It  will  be  useless  to  pursue  the  matter  in  any 
other  way,  than  by  announcing  to  the  French  government  at  once,  a  deter- 
mination to  render  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  nations,  per- 
fectly reciprocal,  by  countervailing  regulations,  and  of  adopting  those  without 
delay ;  if  the  concession  demanded  is  not  immediately  made." 

In  a  despatch  of  General  Cass  to  our  government,  February  13, 1840,  it 
is  said :  "  We  have  no  reason  to  expect  any  favourable  change  in  the  sys- 
tem of  tobacco  admininistration  in  France,  by  which  our  tobacco  can  be 
admitted  upon  anything  like  a  principle  of  reciprocity,  unless  we  are  pre- 
pared to  change  our  mode  of  application;  and  to  enforce,  by  our  own 
laws,  that  equality  of  which  we  are  deprived.  I  have  endeavoured  to 
give  a  general  view  of  the  commercial  relations  existing  between  France 
and  the  United  States,  and  to  point  out  the  inequality  which  exists  — 
an  inequality  resulting  from  the  laws  of  France,  and  which  is  so  great, 
that  our  exportations  to  that  country  do  not  exceed  one  half  of  our  im- 
portations, and  the  balance  must  be  remitted  in  specie." 

Again :  —  "  The  history  of  modem  trade  scarcely  exhibits  and  instance 
of  greater  inequality,  than  the  commercial  intercourse  which  now  exists 
between  the  United  States  and  France." 

It  may  be  asked,  what  our  government  did,  upon  despatches  containing 
such  extraordinary  and  momentous  facts  1  The  answer  must  be,  noth- 
ing ! !  The  long  and  yet  continued  duty  of  10  per  cent,  on  China  silks,  as 
a  bounty  upon  the  importation  of  French  and  English  silks,  is  matter  for 
curious  and  interesting  inquiry. 

As  the  greater  portion  of  our  conunercial  business  is  with  England  —  we 
must  proceed  more  particularly  to  speak  of  her ;  reminding  you,  that  our 
commercial  business  and  regulations  with  France  ajw^Germany,  are  much 
upon  the  same  disadvantageous  condition  as  with  England.  She  is  the 
principal  cause  of  the  present  inequality  of  our  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  nations  of  Europe.  She  is  a  sea-girt  isle,  and  justly  considered  the  gem 
of  the  ocean.  Her  unrivalled  position  and  her  attention  and  superior  com- 
mercial policy,  has  enabled  her  to  hold  her  own  trade ;  and  she  is  busied  to 
gain  and  supplant  ours.  We  were  once  her  colonies ;  but  by  the  strength 
of  our  arms,  and  the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  a  Washington,  we  freed  our- 
selves. She  has  since  gone  on  colonizing  the  world  by  her  commercial  re- 
gulations ;  and  by  our  own  «  unwise  legislation,"  she  has  again  reduced  us 
almost  to  a  colonial  condition.  Her  measures  have  been,  her  corn-laws  ; 
(to  name  them  is  enough  ;)  her  colonial  system,  and  discriminating  duties, 
to  encourage  her  own  commerce  and  depress  that  of  other  countries.  All 
these  proceedings  have  been  left  years  past,  by  our  government  unresisted 


and  without  measures  of  retaliation.  We  have  with  her  a  treaty  of  reci- 
procal navigation  ;  under  which  she  has  flooded  us  with  her  manufactures » 
and  in  return,  takes  little  or  nothing  from  us :  she  drains  us  of  our  specie  and 
even  of  that  obtained  by  other  sources  of  trade  ;  and  yet  prohibits,  by  rate 
of  duties,  every  article  we  can  send  her  in  return,  but  cotton.  Political 
quacks  may  put  plans  of  finance  and  currency  upon  paper  as  often  as  they 
please,  and  call  them  Bank,  Sub-Treasury,  or  any  other  name  of  delusion* 
No  bank  or  currency  can  stand :  there  is  no  commercial  condition  of  a  country 
which  can  be  sound  and  healthy,  "  unless  we  render  the  commercial  intercourse 
between  the  two  nations  equal,  by  countervailing  regulations." 

Let  the  treatment  of  American  tobacco  in  the  markets  of  Europe  il- 
lustrate the  condition  of  our  trade  in  England,  and  which  is  also  in  sub- 
stance the  same  with  France  and  Germany.  The  duty  in  England  on  leaf 
tobacco,  is  3s.  sterling  per  pound,  which  is  about  thirteen  hundred  per 
cent  on  the  cost.  Tobacco  stemmed  and  pressed  in  casks,  is  called 
«» manufactured,"  and  the  duty  is  9s.  sterling,  or  about  two  thousand 
per  cent  on  the  cost  This  whole  subject  of  tobacco  will  be  best  dis- 
posed of  by  a  reference  to  a  "  Report  on  the  regulation,  etc.  etc.  of  for- 
eign countries  on  tobacco,  by  Joshua  Dodge,  late  Special  Agent  of  the 
United  States  of  America  to  Germany,  March  16,  1840."  The  Report 
concludes  with  these  astounding  remarks  : 

«'  Europe  levies  a  revenue  of  about  $30,000,000,  on  about  100,000  hogs- 
heads of  American  tobacco,  which  cost  in  the  United  States  about  87,000,000." 
"  England  alone  levies  about  $17,275,700,  on  about  18,000  hogsheads  of  our 
tobacco,  in  the  form  of  duties,  excise,  licenses,  etc. ;  being  equal  to  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  expenses  of  their  navy;  and  about  equal  to  the  whole  expenses  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

Look  at  the  article  of  rice.  The  cost  being  $3,25  per  cwt,  the  duty  is 
15s.  sterling  ;  and  more  than  the  value  of  the  article.  This  is  to  encourage 
the  rice  of  their  East  India  possessions. 

With  all  due  deference  to  nullification,  the  American  Institute  main, 
tains,  that  the  southern  planters,  who  have  tobacco  or  rice  lands,  are  entitled 
to  the  full  benefit  of  their  production,  and  ought  to  be  protected  in  a  mar- 
ket ;  and  the  full  benefit  of  their  crops  ought  not,  by  the  neglect  of  our 
government,  to  be  given  over,  for  such  enormous  profits,  to  foreigners. 

Flour  is  met  by  prohibitory  duties.  The  article  of  salted  pork  is  subject 
to  a  duty  of  six  dollars  per  barrel ;  and  fresh  pork  is  prohibited ;  to  aid  their 
agriculture.  Lumber  is  subject  to  a  duty  of  prohibition,  in  American  ves- 
sels, in  order  to  support  their  shipping  interest  Shingles  are  charged  with 
a  duty  of  $3,25,  in  American  vessels ;  and,  in  many  cases,  trading  vessels 
are  admitted  from  their  own  ports  and  colonies  nearly  duty  free,  and  thus 
breaking  up  the  fruits  of  the  voyage. 

In  addition  to  such  numerous  facts,  England  is  now  busy  endeavouring 
to  render  herself  independent  of  us  soon,  in  the  article  of  cotton.  She  will 
soon  be  enabled  to  place  it  on  the  footing  of  tobacco.  She  has,  about  two 
years  since,  purchased  our  cotton  gins,  and  hired  men  from  this  country 


8 

upon  liberal  salaries,  to  go  out  to  India,  to  teach  the  natives  how  to  raise 
and  produce  cotton.  She  sent  out  for  this  purpose,  at  one  time,  105  bar- 
rels of  cotton  seed,  obtained  from  this  country,  with  steam  engines  and  other 
necessary  implements ;  she  is  also  encouraging  its  growth  and  production 
in  Egypt,  in  Brazil,  and  in  Texas.  The  climate  and  soil  of  these  coun- 
tries, are  congenial  to  the  production  of  cotton ;  and  Great  Britain  is  teach- 
ing them  the  art  Colombia,  in  South  America,  has  sent  to  this  city,  orders 
for  Sea  Island  cotton-seed  ;  in  hopes  to  rival  South  Carolina  in  that  un- 
equalled production  of  the  world.  The  beginning  results  of  these  measures 
already  appear  in  the  late  British  price  currents  ;  we  see  it  stated  that 
70,000  bales  of  cotton  had  arrived  from  India,  and  had  lessened  the  price 
of  cotton  in  the  market.    Another  British  price  current  states : 

'•Imports  of  American  cotton,        ....  792,230 

Last  year, 1,116,202 

Decrease  — bales,        .        .        .  323,972." 

The  course  of  trade  and  commercial  regulations,  is  the  cause  of  our 
great  indebtedness  abroad ;  of  the  balances  of  trade,  almost  uniformly 
against  us,  and  the  consequent  continued  drafts  upon  our  specie.  I  took 
from  a  city  print,  the  last  of  September,  this  notice : 

•«  The  specie  shipped  in  masses,  is  as  follows :  — 

Gladiator,  for  London, $230,000 

Louis  Phillippe,  for  Havre,         ....  346,000 

Great  Western,  for  Bristol,         ....  271,340 

Akbar,  for  Canton,  via  Liverpool,        .        .        .  250,000 

$1,097,340." 

Although  this  shipment  was  for  a  single  week,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  sub- 
stantially correct  to  consider  the  drafts  on  us  for  specie,  as  equal  to  one 
million  of  dollars  per  month,  and  exhausting  the  specie  we  derive  from 
other  sources  of  trade.  It  is  now  ascertained  that  since  July,  seven  mil- 
lions of  specie  have  been  sent  out  to  France  and  England,  and  almost  en- 
tirely for  untaxed  luxuries.  No  currency,  or  banks,  or  agriculture,  or  manufac- 
tures, can  stand  up  and  prosper,  under  such  a  condition  of  commerce. 

Among  the  effects  of  those  measures,  are  —  the  derangement  of  com- 
merce ;  the  drawing  away  specie  ;  the  depression  of  internal  commerce  ; 
the  destruction  of  labour  ;  and,  above  all,  the  alarming  and  ruinous  increase 
of  American  commerce,  in  foreign  vessels. 

The  Edinburgh  Review,  for  July,  1840,  endeavouring  to  show  the  inter- 
ests which  would  be  sacrificed  in  a  war  with  the  United  States,  says : 

"  On  the  average  of  the  last  four  years,  the  proportion  which  the  ton- 
nage of  ships  from  the  United  States,  entering  the  ports  of  the  United  King- 
dom, bore  to  the  tonnage  of  our  whole  trade  inwards,  (including  coasters,) 
was  as  o7i€  to  nine  and  a  half.  And  the  corresponding  amount  for  the  United 
States,  shows  that  the  tonnage  employed  in  the  trade  with  the  United 
Kingdom,  is  no  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  tonnage  employed  in  the 
foreign  commerce  of  the  Union." 


The  documents  sent  to  Congross  on  2(1  March,  1841,  show  the  toanage 
and  vessels  which  entered  the  United  States  in  1840 : 

«« American  vessels,  No.      .      7,211.  Ton.      .      1,576,946 

Foreign  "        «'        .     ^.571.  "         .         712,363." 

Thus  showing,  one-third  of  the  American  commerce,  in  number  of  ves- 
sels and  tonnage,  is  in  foreign  bottoms  ;  and  principally  under  the  British 
flag.  This  is  by  reason  of  the  discrimination  and  advantages  of  a  mar- 
ket, given  by  other  governments  against  our  commerce  and  carrying  trade. 
British  vessels  visit,  with  facilities,  our  Eastern  ports,  and  take  our  pro- 
duce by  way  of  Halifax  and  Brunswick,  to  foreign  markets,  which  are 
Closed,  by  high  duties,  against  American  vessels.  It  is  thus  that  five-sixths 
of  the  commerce  of  Maine  is  in  British  vessels ;  as  is  also  two-thirds  of 
the  commerce  of  Gfeorgia.    The  table  of  the  tonnage  of  that  State  is : 

M  American,         . 23,204 

British, 41,721." 

in  April  last,  I  went  up  the  Savannah  river.  There  were  then  eleven 
large  English  ships  lading  with  Georgia  timber.    No  American  vessel. 

If  such  an  undue  proportion  of  our  commerce,  carried  on  in  foreign  ves- 
sels, to  the  exclusion  of  the  American  flag,  is  beneficial  either  to  the  parti- 
cular States,  or  to  the  nation ;  the  Chesapeake,  the  Delaware,  and  the 
Hudson,  ought  to  be  opened  to  a  participation  of  the  benefits.  But  if  not, 
the  subject  has  long  required  the  action  of  Congress,  and  calls  for  a  just 
protection  to  our  own  carrying  trade. 

The  commerce  and  navigation  on  the  Western  Lakes,  exhibit  a  case 
yet  more  extraordinary : 

"Lafce  Ontario. 

American,  .... 

British,         ..... 
Lake  Erie. 

Detroit  —  American,    . 
"  British, 

Buffalo,  Cleavelamd,  and  other  places,  seem  to  be  omitted ;  and  the  tables 
are  too  imperfect  to  state  the  commerce  of  the  Upper  Lakes.  It  is,  how- 
ever, matter  of  public  report,  that  some  of  the  principal  flouring  mills  at 
Ostoego,  and  other  places,  are  grinding  on  Canadian  account.  One  line  of 
transportation  had  eighteen  schooners,  busily  employed  in  carrying  flour  to 
Kingston.  It  is  there  branded,-  as  Canadian  manufacture,  and  passed  down 
the  St.  Lawrence,  to  be  carried  in  British  ships  to  a  foreign  and  rival  mar- 
ket At  Cleaveland,  it  is  known,  there  are  several  Canadian  houses,  and 
houses  with  Canadian  partners,  engaged  in  the  produce  brought  by  the 
Ohio  CandL  Their  operations  are  so  extensive,  that  many  of  them  have 
steam  engines  to  unload  from  canal  boats,  and  to  reship  in  vessels  for  King- 
stem.  One  among  the  many  letters,  appearing  in  the  public  prints,  will  best 
tell  the  course  of  this  British  business  in  American  produce,  and  from  which 
American  vessels  are  excluded,  by  discriminative  duties : 

2 


Vessels. 

Tonnage. 

599 
1,011 

63,517 
215,080 

7 
155 

593 
12,000." 

10 


[Extract  of  a  letter.] 

"  Cleavaland,  September  26,  1841. 

"  Six  thousand  barrels  of  Western  Canal  flour  were  sold  here  to-day,  de- 
liverable at  Kingston  and  Prescott,  in  Canada,  by  Oswego  and  Ogdensburg 
millers,  on  terms  equal  to  $6,  cash  here.  1300  bushels  wheat  sold  to-day 
at  »^1,15  which  is  the  top  of  the  market  The  stock  of  wheat  here  must 
be  large,  but  holders  are  not  disposed  to  submit  to  heavy  losses  yet 

"  P.  S.  Evening  —  2(X)0  barrels  more  Oswego  flour  sold,  deliverable  at 
Kingston,  at  a  fraction  below  the  previous  sales." 

The  store-houses  in  Kingston  are  not  large  enough,  and  shantees  are 
built  to  hold  the  American  produce,  sent  there  to  be  reshipped  and  compete 
with  our  vessels  and  commerce  in  foreign  markets.  Much  of  the  produce 
of  eleven  States  and  Territories,  bordering  on  the  Lakes  and  western 
waters,  is  thus  diverted  and  sent  down  the  St  Lawrence,  checking  the  free 
commerce  of  this  city  and  country,  and  goes  to  aggrandize  our  naval  and 
commercial  rival.  In  vain  did  Perry  fight,  with  matchless  valour,  for  the 
mastery  of  the  Lakes.  The  one  ship  which  "  headed  off,"  from  the  line 
of  battle,  and  would  not  join  in  the  fierce  fight,  must  have  been  gifted  with 
second-sight,  and  foresaw  the  inutility  of  conquering  in  war,  that  mastery 
which  was  so  soon,  and  so  ingloriously,  to  be  surrendered  in  time  of  peace. 

The  tolls  on  the  Welland  Canal  suddenly  rose  from  £12,000  to  £50,000 
sterling ;  and  the  tolls  and  freight  of  the  New- York  Canals  fell  a  correspond- 
ing amount,  after  the  treaty  with  England,  which  sacrificed  to  us  the  West 
India  trade.  That  Canal  aided  to  divert  much  of  the  trade  of  the  Upper 
Lakes ;  and  her  commercial  regulations  have  secured  to  England  also,  the 
transportation  and  market  of  this  portion  of  American  produce. 

It  is  one  of  the  commercial  regulations  of  England,  that  American  pro- 
duce, arriving  at  a  port  of  her  colony,  is  naturalized  as  Colonial  produce, 
and  may  be  re-shipped  in  British  vessels  to  the  mother  country,  or  to  any 
other  colony,  or  foreign  port ;  while  a  like  voyage  is  prohibited  to  an  Amer- 
ican vessel.  It  is  thus  that  a  large  portion  of  the  produce  of  the  States, 
bordering  on  the  Lakes,  on  being  sent  across,  to  any  British  settlement,  be- 
comes naturalized  ;  and  is  sent,  by  the  way  of  the  St  Lawrence,  to  foreign 
markets,  in  British  vessels ;  —  thus  encouraging  ship-building,  and  the 
shipping  interest  of  England,  and  furnishing  an  effectual  nursery  for  British 
seamen.  It  explains  why  five-sixths  of  the  commerce  of  Maine,  and  two- 
thirds  of  that  of  Georgia,  and  now  nearly  one-third  of  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  is  carried  on,  and  increasing,  in  British  vessels.  It  tells  this 
country,  why  her  labourers  and  mechanics  are  unemployed ;  why  the 
amount  of  New- York  ship-building  is  lessening  yearly  ;  why  many  of  those 
she  has,  are  unemployed,  and  her  general  prosperity  is  unequal  to  the  advan- 
tages of  her  situation  and  enterprise.  Add  to  these  circumstances  the  coun- 
tervailing and  prohibitory  duties  of  England  against  the  agriculture  and  the 
commerce  of  this  nation,  all  disregarded  and  supinely  acquiesced  in,  by  our 
own  government,  and  the  present  depressed  and  disastrous  condition  of  the 
currency  and  the  country  cannot  be  misunderstood.     The  balances  of  trade 


11 

against  us  t[ie  last  six  years,  is  nearly  three  hundred  millions  of  dollars, 
or  articles  which  could  have  been  manufactured  in  this  country  ;  to  say 
■•.othing  of  the  two  hundred  millions  of  State  stocks  sold  in  Europe  in  the 
jsarae  time.  How  mysterious  it  is  that  our  finances  and  currency  are  de- 
ranged, and  business  depressed  ! ! !  Congress  and  our  Government  have 
been  tinkering  at  the  system  of  banks,  while  they  shrink  with  dread  from 
looking  at  the  real  causes. 

The  injurious  effects  of  these  measures  on  New- York  alone,  are  worthy 
of  cousideration.  In  1835,  the  freight  which  came  to  tide-water,  on  the 
New- York  Canals,  was  753,191  tons,  and  required  over  1,400  vessels,  of  500 
tons  each,  to  transport  it  to  this  city  and  to  a  foreign  market.  It  gave  life  and 
activity  to  our  towns  and  cities,  by  a  continued  employment  and  an  in- 
creasing demand  for  labour,  materials,  and  mechanic  skill ;  and  formed  an 
important  item  in  our  domestic  and  foreign  commerce.  The  tolls,  business, 
and  freight  on  our  canals  have  been  greatly  lessened  by  this  diverted  trade- 
The  diminution  exceeds  in  amount  the  growth  and  increasing  production  of 
the  West. 

The  statistics  of  ship-building,  for  1840 : 

Vessels.  Tona 

«♦  Maine,  there  were  built,  .  .  181 38,936. 

Massachusetts, 113 17,811. 

New  Jersey, 103 

Maryland, Ill 

New  York,  .  .  .  .  , 72 13,786." 

Thus  showing  the  comparative  condition  of  your  commercial  emporium. 
It  has  been  diminishing  in  amount  for  the  last  several  years.  How  could 
it  be  otherwise,  under  the  commercial  regulations  of  other  goveriunents, 
and  almost  the  abandonment  of  our  own  1  In  common  with  the  nation,  it 
has  claims  for  relief  and  protection  in  its  just  rights  and  pursuit". 

Spain  deems  it  correct  and  wise,  to  follow  illustrious  precedents.  She  too 
naturalizes  the  produce  of  other  countries,  in  order  to  command  its  carrying 
trade  in  her  own  vessels.  Our  cotton  is  prohibited  going  to  Spain  in  Ame- 
rican vessels ;  while,  if  sent  to  her  colony  of  Cuba,  it  is  there  naturalized, 
and  then  shipped  in  Spanish  vessels  to  the  mother  country,  or  a  foreign 
market  A  considerable  commerce  of  this  kind  is  now  carried  on  from  Ha- 
vanna;  to  the  loss  of  New  Orleans  and  to  American  vessels.  O  ur  government 
yields  to  all  this.  It  ought  to  support  our  trade  and  commerce,  or  with- 
draw like  the  Chinese,  and  be  ready  in  our  turn,  to  be  murdered,  because 
we  will  not  eat  opium. 

The  cotton  of  Texas  and  the  Red  River  would  come  to  New  Orleans,  as 
its  port  of  business,  deposit,  and  shipment  for  market ;  but  a  duty  amount- 
ing to  prohibition  against  foreign  cotton  ;  as  a  protection  of  this  staple  of 
the  Southern  States  (and  which  oppose  its  extention  to  the  staples  of  other 
states,)  compels  it  to  turn  aside  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  New  Orleans 
suffers  the  loss  of  its  business,  and  American  vessels  are  deprived  of  its 
carrying  trade. 

Much  is  said  about  free  trade.    England  sends  books  on  Political  Econ 


12 

omy  for  us  to  use,  but  not  to  be  regarded  by  herself.  Our  government  has 
gone  on  giving  free  trade,  without  any  return,  till  an  empty  treasury  has 
compelled  it  to  resume  duties  for  the  sake  of  revenue. 

In  1834,  by  the  official  statement  to  Parliament,  the  quantity  of  leaf  to. 
bacco  imported  from  the  United  States  was  37,804,871  lbs.  the  duty  on  which, 
at  3s.  sterling  per  lb.  would  amount  to  $27,219,507.  According  to  Mr. 
McCulloch,  the  discriminating  duty  between  tobacco  raised  in  the  British 
Colonies,  or  the  United  States,  is3i.  sterling,  or  6  cents  per  lb. ;  being  equal 
to  the  price  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  tobacco  in  the  London  market,  (in 
bond,)  according  to  the  same  author,  in  1834. 

The  duty  levied  on  Pot  and  Peari,  Ashes  imported  into  Great  Britain 
from  the  United  States,  is  6s.  sterling,  or  $1, 44  per  cwt.;  while  from  British 
Colonies  ashes  are  admitted /ree  ofdviy.  The  efTect  of  this  has  been  to 
drive  the  trade  in  ashes  from  the  northern  states  to  Montreal  and  Quebec, 
whence  they  are  carried  to  England  in  British  vessels.  Thus  in  1834  the 
imports  of  ashes  from  the  British  Colonies,  (Canada,  &c.,)  were  84,937  cwt. 
and  only  one  cwt.  from  the  United  States. 

In  1838,  England  raised,  by  duties  levied  on  Cotton  from  the  United 
States,  $2,434,949,  while  she  prohibits,  or  burthens  with  heavy  duties,  every 
article  of  our  agricultural  produce.  Foreigners,  and  agents  for  foreign  bu- 
siness, may  well  huzza! !  for  such  a  Free  Trade.  It  is  according  to 
the  English  book.  Will  any  person  with  American  feelings  join  in  such  a 
clamour] 

It  is  not  true  that  the  American  Institute,  is  an  advocate  for  a  High  Ta- 
riff. It  maintains  equality  and  a  perfect  reciprocity  in  trade.  It  proposes 
to  offer  to  other  governments,  free  trade,  equality  and  reciprocity.  Our  bu- 
siness is  to  offer  to  England  and  to  France  to  come  to  some  agreement,  for 
a  just  and  equal  trade ;  to  take  our  tobacco  and  rice  on  equal  terms ;  to 
make  American  productions  free,  and  reciprocal :  and  if  this  is  refused,  to 
adopt  countervailing  regulations,  as  a  defence  against  their  unjust  measures ; 
and  to  put  on  their  broadcloths,  silks,  and  manufactures,  the  like  duties 
they  put  on  tobacco  and  the  agriculture  of  our  country.  Their  aggres- 
sions, to  be  our  rule  of  resistance. 

It  is  the  object  and  wish  of  America,  to  walk  in  the  paths  of  peace.  Give 
a  clear  deck,  or  an  open  field,  and  she  will  ask  no  favours  of  the  world.  But 
with  all  our  keen  sagacity,  and  what  with  politics  and  president-making, 
our  country  is  not  going  in  advance,  as  she  ought,  with  all  her  natural 
advantages.  With  keen  and  vigorous  governments  abroad,  careful  of  their 
interests  ;  and  with  party  rulers  here  at  home,  intent  only  on  their  places  and 
party  discipline,  it  is  no  matter  for  wonder  that  currency  is  deranged,  com- 
merce depressed,  and,  in  short,;  all  the  concerns  of  the  country  embar- 
rassed. 

These  things  explain  why,  among  other  things,  our  commercial  marine 
is  languishing.  Strife  may  come  and  find  our  marine  deranged  and  our 
hardy  seamen  driven  to  other  pursuits,  and  one  half  of  the  trade  of  our 


13 

country  in  possession  of  foreigners.  War  may  come,  and  we  may  blow  the 
trumpet,  and  call  for  these  naval  heroes  in  the  hour  of  need,  to  "  hold  their 
steady  march  upon  the  mountain  wave,"  and  they  may  not  be  within  our 
call ;  and  all  this  too,  while  it  is  the  declared  policy  of  our  country  to  en- 
courage navigation  ;  and  especially  long  voyages,  as  a  nursert  for  sea- 
men. For  this  object  a  bounty  is  paid  on  the  fisheries  ;  and  drawbacks  al- 
lowed on  the  re-exportation  of  foreign  articles.  The  amount  does  not  ap- 
pear in  the  table,  but  is  believed  to  be  nearly  equal  to  one  million  of  dollars. 

In  the  face  of  such  facts,  the  last  revenue  bill  has  surrendered  the  China 
trade  to  British  shipping  ! !  Tea  from  China,  was  before,  and  has  been  a 
long  time,  duty  free,  in  American  vessels ;  and  ten  per  cent,  duty  if  in  for- 
eign vessels.  In  the  last  revenue  bill  this  little  discriminating  duty  of  10 
per  cent  is  repealed,  and  it  enacts,  that  tea  shall  be  duty  free, "  from  China," 
or  •'  ANT  OTHER  PLACE."  This  must  be  in  favour  of  British  shipping ;  and 
in  compliment  to  a  duty  of  two  thousand  per  cent,  on  our  tobacco,  and  du- 
ties operating  as  a  prohibition  against  rice,  flour,  and  the  productions  of  our 
agriculture,  unless  diverted  to  those  channels,  giving  the  carrying  trade  to 
British  vessels.  The  old  stale  teas  of  British  stores,  are  now  to  be  sent  to 
this  country  in  British  vessels,  dutyfree. 

While  we  gave  to  France  a  free  trade  in  her  silks,  wines,  and  luxuries, 
as  a  reward  for  the  embarrassments  inflicted  by  her,  on  our  commerce  and 
agriculture,  we  have  yet  continued  the  duty  of  10  per  cent,  on  silks  from 
beyond  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  which  operates  as  a  tax  on  us,  and  as  a 
bounty  on  the  silks  of  France  and  England. 

With  the  protecting  duty  long  since  allowed  on  New  Orleans  sugar,  a 
bounty  was  given,  in  the  nature  of  a  drawback  on  the  importation,  refining, 
and  exportation  of  foreign  sugars.  When  the  duty  was  diminished,  the 
bounty  remained  unregarded.  This  omission  did  not  offend  nullification,  as 
it  only  greatly  increased  the  exports  of  Cuba,  created  a  few  millionaire 
refiners  in  this  city  and  in  Boston  ;  and  presented  the  rare  circumstance 
of  a  bounty  paid  by  this  country  for  supplying  Russia  with  West  India 
sugar  !  —  The  last  Congress,  in  mercy  to  the  empty  treasury,  repealed  this 
bounty,  so  far,  as  to  be  only  equal  to  the  duty  paid.  Such  a  state  of  things 
could  not  have  been  the  intention  of  any  Congress  or  any  administration ; 
but  engaged  and  engrossed  as  they  are  in  president-making,  and  in  squab- 
bles of  party  politics,  it  is  only  their  heedless  legislation.  They  have  not 
had  time  to  insist  on  equality  and  reciprocity  in  trade,  and  take  the  proper 
retaliatory  measures  against  the  injurious  commercial  regulations  of  other 
governments.  In  olden  times  the  messages  of  our  Presidents  dwelt  on  the 
support  and  condition  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures.  In  lat- 
ter years,  these  subjects  are  deemed  too  unessential  to  gain  admittance  into 
such  public  documents. 

We  do  not  speak  of  any  of  these  things  as  partisans.  The  American  In- 
stitute belongs  to  no  party.  It  censures  all  parties  alike.  Party  spirit  and 
the  discipline  of  party,  is  the  bane  of  our  land,  and  the  curse  of  our  country. 
The  Institute  calls  for  support  to  our  agriculture,  conunerce,  and  man- 


14 

ufactures,  and  to  procure  euch  legislation  as  will  put  us  on  an  equality  with 
other  nations  in  all  our  commercial  pursuits. 

There  is  no  defect  in  our  institutions,  or  in  the  character  of  our  people, 
which  occasions  the  present  depression  of  our  concerns,  foreign  and  do- 
mestic. We  stand  elevated  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  for  capacity  to  produce. 
If  Russia  wishes  to  build  a  vessel,  she  sends  to  New- York  for  one  as  a  model. 
When  she  needs  an  imperial  steam  frigate.  New- York  is  employed  to  build 
it  Spain  also  sends  to  New- York  for  steam-vessels  of  war.  Is  a  cotton 
factory  or  a  steam  sugar-mill  wanted,  America  furnishes  it.  Does  Prussia 
need  a  flouring-mill,  she  sends  to  Baltimore  for  machinery.  An  American 
is  selected  as  engineer,  while  Dantzic  sends  her  citizens  to  Rochester  to 
learn  the  art  of  grinding  wheat  Austria  sends  to  Philadelphia  for  loco- 
motives. The  Grand  Sultan  sent  here  for  our  Eckford  to  instruct  them  in 
ehip-building,  and  for  our  Porter,  to  impart  capacity  and  valour  for  their  de- 
fence. When  Egypt  wakes  up  from  her  Pharaoh  sleep  and  finds  that  the 
hands  of  her  subjects  and  her  bullock-mills  are  not  tlie  most  perfect  in  the 
world  for  digging  canals,  she  too  sends  for  tools  and  steam-engines.  When 
Texas  wants  machinery,  she  sends  to  Lowell  and  Patterson ;  and  England 
—  even  England  herself  sends  to  Philadelphia  for  locomotives,  for  she  can 
build  nothing  to  equal  them.  It  is  only  in  our  own  country,  that  American 
genius  and  enterprise  are  not  sustained  and  honoured. 

Were  there  vouchsafed  to  us  this  free  trade,  or  reciprocity  which  we  ask, 
American  productions,  would  meet  the  eye  of  the  traveller  in  every  country 
and  clime.  Even  now  an  American  peace-maker,  built  by  the  inventor, 
frowns  from  the  ramparts  of  Constantinople.  In  saying  a  peace-maker,  I  do 
not  mean  a  Quaker ;  their  chaste  and  beautiful  principles  ill  accord  with 
this  degenerate  age.  1  refer  to  Cochran's  repeating  gun,  which  must  soon 
come  into  general  use.  While  we  have  such  weapons  to  defend  us,  we 
need  not  fear  to  assert  boldly  our  claim  to  reciprocity  and  free  trade.  This 
is  not  the  only  instance  in  which  members  of  the  Institute  have  been  called 
abroad  to  superintend  the  building  of  inventions,  the  offspring  of  their  own 
minds,  and  which  will  long  stand  as  monuments  of  American  skill. 

Having,  perhaps,  hereafter  no  better  opportunity  to  express  the  deep  obli- 
gations which  the  American  Institute  feels  under  to  the  U.  S.  Naval  officers 
on  this  station,  I  will  improve  it  by  saying  that  we  should  be  most  happy 
to  reciprocate,  and  have  looked  about  us  for  the  means  of  so  doing. 

We  can  only  offer  you,  gentlemen,  in  return  our  sincere  thanks,  and  the 
beautiful  nautical  instruments  which  are  now  before  you,  manufactured  by 
members  of  this  Institute,  which,  by  their  near  approach  to  perfection,  will 
give  you  greater  confidence  in  crossing  the  mighty  waters ;  and  should 
these  fail  which  we  offer  you  with  one  hand,  we  hold  in  our  other  a  Francis 
Life  Boat  to  succour  and  to  save  in  the  last  extremity. 

^C^  Tlis  Proiiiilont  then  announced  the  delivery  of  the  premiums,  commented  upon  various 
ipecimons  and  individual  manufactures ;  ati<l  the  affairs  of  the  exibition  closed  with  music 
from  (be  Naval  Uand. 


16 


O*  The  memorable  "  armed  neutrality"  of  the  North, under  the  aUBpicea 
of  the  Empress  Catharine,  formed  for  the  defence  of  »  FREE  TRADE," 
was  overthrown  in  the  wreck  of  the  French  Revolution. 

"  Russia  was  prosperous  in  1816,  '17,  '18,  and  '19 ;  but,  fascinated  with  the 
theories  of  Adam  Smith  and  J.  B.  Say,  she  adopted  a  new  tariff  in  1818,  on 
the  delusive  plan  of  letting  trade  regulate  itself.*  In  this  tariff  she  abro- 
gated her  prohibitions,  and  lowered  her  duties.  The  country  was  imme- 
diately deluged  with  foreign  goods,  and  in  due  course,  drained  of  its  specie, 
as  we  have  been  in  past  years,  to  pay  for  the  surplus  of  those  imports,  which 
far  exceeded  its  exports.  The  most  disastrous  consequences  took  place. 
Circulation  was  stopped.  Distress  and  wretchedness  overspread  the  land. 
The  manufacturers,  as  was  the  case  in  this  country,  first  fell  victims  to  this 
mistaken  policy.  Agriculture  next  felt  the  shock  ;  and  finally,  bankruptcy 
swept  away  a  large  proportion  of  those  commercial  houses  whose  cupidity 
had  paved  the  way  for  the  misery  of  their  country." 

The  following  statement  of  the  sufferings  of  the  country  is  taken  from 
a  circular  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  signed  by  Count  Nesselrode  :  — 
(published  1827:) 

"  To  produce  happy  effects,  the  principles  of  commercial  freedom  must 
be  generally  adopted.  The  state  which  adopts,  whilst  others  reject  them,  must 
coTvdemn  its  own  industry  and  commerce  to  pay  a  ruinous  trib^ute  to  those  of 
other  nations. 

"  From  a  circulation  exempt  from  restraint,  and  the  facility  afforded  by 
reciprocal  exchanges,  almost  all  the  governments  at  first  resolved  to  seek 
the  means  of  repairing  the  evil  which  Europe  had  been  doomed  to  suffer ; 
but  experience,  and  more  correct  calculations,  because  they  were  made  from  cer- 
tain data,  and  upon  the  results  already  known^  of  the  peace  that  had  Just  taken 
place,forced  them  soon  to  adhere  to  the  prohibitory  system. 

^^  England  preserved  hers.  Austria  remained  faithful  to  the  rule  she  had 
laid  down,  to  guard  herself  against  the  rivalship  of  foreign  industry.  France^ 
with  the  same  views,  adopted  the  most  rigorous  measures  of  precaution.  And 
Prusssia  published  a  new  tariff  in  October  last,  which  proves  thai  she  found 
it  impossible  not  to  follow  the  example  of  the  rest  of  Europe. 

"  in  proportion  as  the  prohibitory  system  is  extended  and  rendered  per- 
fect in  other  countries,  that  state  which  pursues  the  contrary  system  makes 
from  day  to  day  sacrifices  more  extensive  and  more  considerable.  *  *  *  Jt 
offers  a  continual  encouragement  to  the  manufactures  of  other  countries  — 
and  its  own  manufactures  perish  in  the  struggle,  which  they  are  as  yet 
unable  to  maintain. 

"  It  is  with  the  most  lively  feelings  of  regret  we  acknowledge  it  is  our 
own  proper  experience  which  enables  us  to  trace  this  picture.  The  evils 
which  it.  details,  have  been  realized  in  Russia  and  Poland  since  the  con- 
clusion of  the  act  of  the  7-19  of  December,  1818.*  AGRICULTURE 
WITHOUT  A  MARKET,  INDUSTRY  WITHOUT  PROTECTION, 
LANGUISH  AND  DECLINE.  SPECIE  IS  EXPORTED,  AND 
THE  MOST  SOLID  COMMERCIAL  HOUSES  ARE  SHAKEN. 
The  public  prosperity  would  soon  feel  the  wound  inflicted  on  private 
fortunes,  if  new  regulations  did  not  promptly  change  the  actual  state  of 
Eiffftirs* 

"  Events  have  proved  that  our  AGRICULTURE  and  our  COMMERCE, 
as  well  as  our  MANUFACTURING  INDUSTRY,  are  not  only  paralyzed^ 
BUT  BROUGHT  TO  THE  BRINK  OF  RUIN." 


*  Tlio  tariir  did  not  go  into  operation  till  18SIX 


HF 


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